During Monday night’s legislative session, less than an hour before he collapsed and died in the Statehouse, DeCroce (R-Morris) noticed something was amiss with the proceedings.

“Madam speaker, may I have a point of order, please?” he said. “Could I have a quorum call? Are all the members in this house sitting in their seats?”

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) agreed to the request and 73 green lights shined on the board. But the light of Troy Singleton (D-Burlington), which had flickered for votes just moments before, was not among them.

“Madam speaker, listen, I don’t want to cause a lot of problems, but I know there is somebody voting for Assemblyman Singleton,” DeCroce said. “Before these votes, there were votes on the board for Singleton, and he’s not here. I don’t think that’s right.”

Oliver said she would “examine the votes that have been taken.”

Singleton told The Auditor that DeCroce was right. He was outside the Assembly chamber at the time, in the Statehouse complex while on a conference call. Assembly rules don’t allow staffers to vote for members if they’re not inside the chamber.

Assembly Democrats told The Auditor that the clerk’s office will remove Singleton’s votes taken when he was outside the room. No word on how many there were, but none determined a bill’s fate.

“I wasn’t in my seat. That is, in effect, true, and the minority leader, to his credit, who was often a stickler for the rules, was correct to point that out,” said Singleton, who joined the lower house in November. “It’s a lesson learned.”

Codey’s perks purged — again

Sen. Richard Codey, a former governor and senate president, knows what it’s like to lose the perks of high office.

In this case, well ... it’s an actual office.

Last month, Gov. Chris Christie, who has been feuding with Codey, stripped him of his security detail. Now, Assembly Democrats have taken away his office at the Statehouse.

Since being ousted as Senate president two years ago, Codey used the office of disgraced former Union County Assemblyman Neil Cohen, provided to him by the Assembly.

On Wednesday, Codey (D-Essex) was told to pack up.

In a joint statement, four Assembly leaders — Oliver, Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), Budget Chairman Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) and Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) — said it had nothing to do with politics and “it was always made clear” the arrangement was temporary.

“The Assembly has the utmost respect for Gov. Codey, which is why it allowed him to use one of its offices for two years and was more than happy to do so. But with changes that have come along with the new legislative session, the Assembly needs that office once again,” they said.

Codey’s response: “It is what it is.”

DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty ImagesNewark Mayor Cory Booker

Booker & Bloomie, perfect together

Political circles were buzzing this week with the news that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg will hold a pricey cocktail party next month for old friend and ally, Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

The NYC event costs $1,000 to get in the door. For raising $13,000, donors earn the title of “host committee co-chair.” For $26,000, one is deemed a “host committee chair.”

The invitation to the Bloomberg fete says it is authorized by Booker Team for Newark 2014 for a possible run for a third term. But Booker insiders say he is also weighing a run for U.S. Senate in 2014 or for governor in 2013.

Officials at the state Election Law Enforcement Commission said the invitation’s wording means the money can only be used in a municipal election.

Booker could donate to his federal committee CoryPAC, which has raised $80,000 so far, but only within federal limits. By The Auditor’s reading, that couldn’t exceed $5,000 a year.

Game on for Gabriela

Gabriela Mosquera wasn’t sworn in to the Assembly this past week, but Democrats there are already treating her as one of the gang.

At the last minute on Tuesday, the state Supreme Court barred Mosquera, of Gloucester Township, from being sworn in until it wades through Republican allegations that she didn’t meet residency requirements while a candidate. Nonetheless, Democrats on Wednesday gave her three committee assignments: Women and Children, Financial Institutions and Insurance, and Commerce and Economic Development.

“Clearly, she won’t be serving on any committees until she becomes a member of the Assembly, but leadership is being prepared,” said Democratic Assembly spokesman Tom Hester Jr.

If Democrats lose the appeal, they plan to appoint Mosquera, who now meets the residency requirement, to the seat.